With good intentions, the "Tea Party" movement emerged on the political scene to challenge washington with legitimate concerns over taxation and soring national debt. However, the initial Tea Party Patriots movement was immediately highjacked by the GOP and used as a new banner to push thier anti Obama agenda.

The mantra quickly shifted from taxation to fear mongering with a manufactured assult on the constution, freedom and liberty at the hands of the Obama administration. Yet as Tea Party candidates hit the campaign trail, it was not surprising that their solutions to "take back the country" would require an editing, if not a full blown assult on the what? - Wait for it! - Are you ready? - That's right! - THE CONSTUTION.

Tea Party supported candidate Rand Paul openly calls for restricting constitutional rights under the 14th amendment to some people while leaving it intact for others. They all seem to have a blueprint for how society should conduct itself and beleive themselves to be the best suited facilitators of knowing whom is entitled to what, and to what extent they are entitled.

They try to sell a Normal Rockwell view of America where cookie-cutter famalies are patriotically obligated to follow established guidelines. You grow up, graduate from high school, go to college, get a job, get married, have children, teach you children nothing but the established guidelines and then repeat the process. That's thier idea of life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness.

In these uncertain times, most of us cling to the things that make us feel secure. Unfortunately, some people cling to things that sound secure and perhaps even logical, while ignoring the fact that they fly in the face of true freedom and liberty. As hard as it may be for some people to understand, the persuit of happiness my exclude religion, higher education, marriage, children, and perhaps even employment.

So when someone like Matt Green comes along, we shake our heads a little and wonder. Who is this young man, bearded and weather-worn, pushing a cart down a country road, mile after mile? And why would he abandon a solid career as a civil engineer _ a roadway designer, ironically _ to walk all the way across America?

"Good question," he concedes to those who frequently ask about his motives.

Unlike others who've made cross-country treks, Green is not looking to break a record of any kind. Nor does he want to draw attention to a particular cause. He has no agenda, other than the handwritten list of directions he regularly compiles from Google Maps, in the event his cell phone can't access them from remote areas.

No, for Green, there's just something about the act of walking that makes him really happy, much more content than he ever would have been in his office cubicle in Manhattan, where he used to daydream about doing something epic like this.

On the road, there's a simple purpose to each day, he says. There is camaraderie with the people he meets along the way. There is excitement in discovering what's around the next bend.
"Playing it safe isn't really that safe," he has concluded. "If you do that, you miss out on a lot of the great things life has to offer."

For him, making this journey is FREEDOM.

Green, a 30-year-old Virginia native, began his walk in late March at Rockaway Beach, a seaside neighborhood just south of New York's Kennedy Airport. The goal: Make it to Rockaway Beach, Ore., just over 3,000 miles to the west.